Fluid storage and delivery is very important in various miniature fluidic and microfluidic devices and systems. Some exemplary microfluidic or miniature fluidic systems include micro-fuel cells for portable power generation, portable analysis systems for the detection of chemical or biological agents, drug delivery devices and medical diagnostic systems. Most of the existing and proposed microfluidic systems utilize fluid delivery systems that address fluid storage and fluid delivery independently. Consequently, currently proposed and existing fluid delivery systems suffer from, among other issues, integration difficulties, high dead volume, and an inability to store significant or sufficient volumes of fluid.
Additionally, many of the other fluid delivery systems utilize either integrated active micropumps or external miniature active pumps to satisfy the fluid delivery parameters. The power consumption of these pumps causes the efficiency of a microfluidic or miniature fluidic system to suffer. Many micro-fuel cells, for example, operate on very small flow rates at a relatively high pressure that is substantially constant. Micropumps that satisfy the fuel delivery demands of such a system can have a power consumption of anywhere from 1 to 100 mW rendering them unsuitable or less than ideal for use in a micro-fuel cell.
Furthermore, many existing membrane-type micropumps pump fluid with a pulsating flow and are similarly unsuitable for use in a micro-fuel cell, and chemical and biosensor systems that require constant steady flow. Electrokinetic or magneto-hydrodynamic pumps require certain electrical properties in the reservoir fluid in order to operate, and pump fluid at pressures which are too low to act as a viable option for use in micro-fuel cells. Consequently, there is a need to overcome at least some of these disadvantages and/or deficiencies.